MR. GREGORY: Well, can I raise, can I raise the big question--Jack, let me start with you--which is, at this point, does the president have to level with the American people and say, "Look, the conversation in Washington has stopped about jobs, about what government can do to somehow stimulate economic growth." We got to focus on other things. Maybe it's tax reform. But we, we can't do it at the moment. You disagreed with that earlier, saying he can do something about the economy.
MR. WELCH: Oh, he can do a lot about the economy. He could look at drilling for oil. He can, by himself, can drive that posture. He could put a moratorium on regulation until we've got unemployment below a certain level. He could do it. And he could, most importantly, change the posture. Everything we do in this administration is more punitive than it is incentivized. Let me give you a perfect example. Let's take the jobs bill. They put in there Section 371. That is an ability to sue for unemployed people who are out looking for a job to sue for $300,000, for example, if they hire Andrea who has a job and don't hire me, unemployed. It's crazy. They, they give a $4,000 incentive to hire an unemployed person, then they give a $300,000 penalty if you happen to discriminate against an unemployed person. Come on, you've got to get a positive framework.
It turns out that Obama's jobs bill is crazy. If you do more of the same failed policies and expect different results that's as crazy as it gets. What do you think?
owe need to protet this jobs bill. It gives more money to bailouts.
ReplyDeleteThis is insane. Punishing employers for not hiring an unemployed vs. someone who currently employed?
ReplyDeleteWith that hanging over an employer’s head, why would they even bother to interview ANY unemployed person for fear of being levied a $300K fine.
Obama is out of his mind. Sure does show he has no clue how the private sector works.
@ Mark -
ReplyDeleteThis idea is just more wealth redistribution in another form.
Right now there is a "contract" worker brought into my quality department at work who was unemployed for 2 years. He claimed experience but sorely lacks it which I believe is the sole reason for his unemployment.
He also said he was with the UAW previous to unemployment which I then understood why he held a job to begin with, as without union protection this guy could not qualify for let alone hold a job burger-flipping,,seriously.
The reason businesses seek currently employed for open positions is the simple fact that they are indeed deemed employable by other employers.
Of course the simple formula there does not apply to government hiring and this is immediately known when dealing with any government employee on the phone, correspondence or in person.
With all the calls for smaller government and an election on the horizon the private sector is once again the target and furthers Obamas goal of diminishing the GDP in in actual product, quality and dollars.
22% of UAW union workers can't read. 29% have IQ's under 80. 19% under 72.
ReplyDeleteIt was a marriage made in whatever lefties call heaven – a brand new president, destined for media success, and an offshoot network trying to make its mark as a TV organization after years as an also-ran. In just less than three years, it has all-but collapsed.
ReplyDeleteBack in the beginning of 2009, the new president was at the height of his popularity. According to Gallup, Obama had a 67 percent approval rating and just 13 percent disapproval at the time of his inauguration. Of course, he hadn’t actually done anything yet.
The same time period was wildly generous to Team Obama’s pet TV network MSNBC. “During the three most lucrative and widely watched hours of TV, the cable news channel MSNBC outranked CNN for the first time ever in March,” wrote The New York Times in 2009 based on figures from Nielsen Media Research.
They were heady days. MSNBC had more than doubled its ratings during the beginning of 2008, when the Obama star was in ascendance. But its cast of characters was also a bit different. The Mouth That Roared, Keith Olbermann, was still sitting in an anchor chair during prime time, appeasing loony left audiences with his constant attacks on all things George W. Bush.
As 2009 continued, it looked like the future was as bright as Che Guevara’s halo in liberal dreams of the after life. (OK, they don’t really believe in heaven, but they still think Che’s there.) But if Che’s in heaven, the left’s beloved K.O. now broadcasts from purgatory, also known as Al Gore’s CurrentTV. The network he left behind lacks the impact it once had.
This summer, Obama mentioned twice that he would like to circumvent Congress when it comes to pushing his agenda. Now, according to Reuters, it and the Associated Press it seems he is doing it.
ReplyDelete“President Barack Obama this week will announce a series of actions to help the economy that will not require congressional approval,” Reuters reports, “including an initiative to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages, according to a White House official.”
It should be noted that not everything the president does needs congressional approval. But the wire service explains just what it is Obama is working to do:
The Obama administration has been working with the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to find ways to make it easier for borrowers to switch to cheaper loans even if they have little to no equity in their homes.
The FHFA intends to loosen the terms of the two-year-old Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), which helps borrowers who have been making mortgage payments on time but who have not been able to refinance as their home values have dropped.
They are also set to reduce loan fees that Fannie and Freddie charge and waive fees on borrowers that refinance into loans with shorter terms, the Journal said.
[...]
In Denver Wednesday, Obama will announce a student loan initiative.
The Associated Press adds that the moves will come with their own catchphrase:
Seeking to circumvent congressional opposition, President Barack Obama will announce a series of executive branch steps aimed at jumpstarting the economy this week, beginning with new rules to make it easier for homeowners to refinance their mortgages.
[...]
With the president’s jobs bill struggling in Congress, the White House is refocusing its efforts on steps Obama can take to address the nation‘s economic woes without getting lawmakers’ approval. During his three-day trip to the West Coast this week, Obama will use a new catchphrase to try to push Republicans into action: “We can’t wait.”
It’s his latest in a string of slogans aimed at placing blame on Republicans for lack of action on the economy.
“The president will continue to pressure Congressional Republicans to put country before party and pass the American Jobs Act, but he believes we cannot wait, so he will act where they won’t,” White House Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer recently told The New York Times.
In July, Obama told the Hispanic group La Raza that the idea of “doing things on my own is very tempting:”
Then in September, the president told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute that “There are times where — until Nancy Pelosi is speaker again — I’d like to work my way around Congress.”
It should be noted that La Raza chanted “Yes you can!” after his first comments. And now, it seems, he is.